Antispill child&#39;s drinking cup with magnetic closure valve



April 20, 1954 w. s. DALE 2,675,815

ANTISPILL CHILD'S DRINKING CUP WITH MAGNETIC CLOSURE VALVE Filed Oct. 13, 1952 mu s 7'02 Patented Apr. 20, 1954 ANTISPILL CHILDS DRINKING CUP WITH MAGNETIC CLOSURE VALVE Wallace S. Dale, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application October 13, 1952, Serial No. 314,431

3 Claims. (01. 137-43) This invention relates generally to a magnetic check valve and to a check valve particularly adapted for use with an anti-spill childs drinking cup.

It is an object of my present invention to provide a magnetic check valve which will be positively held in open position until the same is subjected to at least a slight impact when in tilted position.

It is another object to provide a childs drinking cup wherein a magnetic valve controls the flow of air into the cup in order to permit the flow of liquid through a discharge outlet when the cup is in normally tilted drinking position, but which will close immediately to prevent spilling of the liquid when the cup is subjected to an impact and tilted beyond substantially upright position.

More specifically, it is an object to provide a magnetic check valve having a weighted ball made from a magnetic material and adapted to be normally seated in a magnetized valve seat to hold the valve in open position even during tilting thereof but unseating itself when subjected to an impact when in tilted position.

Still more specifically, it is an object to provide a check valve particularly adapted. to control the flow of air through an air vent in a child's drinking cup to remain open as long as the cup is disposed in normal drinking position so long as the same is not subjected to an impact when in tilted position, but closing immediately as soon as the cup is subjected to even a slight impact when in tilted position, said valve consisting in a magnetized valve seat member simultaneously exerting attractive force on a sealing valve disposed therebelow to urge said valve into seated position against the underside of said valve seat member, but having a weighted ball disposed above the valve seat member and normally attracted thereby into engagement with a valve releasing element to normally hold the valve in spaced relation below the valve seat, but releasing said valve to respond to the attractive force of said magnetized seat member when the cup in which the valve is mounted is tilted and simultaneously subjected to even a slight impact as when the cup is accidently tipped over at the table or knocked to the floor.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a child's drinking cup embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view thereof taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and showing the cup in operative position with the valve in open position, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary central vertical sectional view of the portion of the cup containing the valve and showing said valve in closed position with the cup in overturned relation.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawings, I provide a childs drinking cup 5 having a bottom 6 with upstanding side walls 1 which, in the form shown, taper downwardly and having a reinforcing bead 8 formed around the top edge thereof. A handle 9 may be provided to assist the child in gripping the cup.

A top closure ll! is provided and has an upstanding side wall portion llla of a size and shape to be received within the upper portion of the side walls 1 of cup 5 as by being pressed therein, Suitable means for retaining the closure within the upper portion of the cup I may be provided such as the roughening of the outer surface of the side wall ma as at lilb. The top closure H) has a closure panel H extending across the lower end of the side walls lfla in sealed relation therewith and said closure panel I I has a pair of spaced openings l2 and it! formed therethrough which, in the form shown, are disposed in diametrically opposed relation. A simple flap valve l lof any suitable material, such as soft rubber or the like, is provided to sealingly close opening l2 when the air pressure on the outside exceeds that on the inside of the cup.

A normally open valve, designated as an entirety by the numeral i5, is mounted in the vent opening I 3 to control the flow of air into the cup 5. The valve I5 has a sleeve l6 forming a valve chamber therewithin and sealingly connected at its upper end within the vent opening I3, as by the sealing flange ll fixed around the top edge thereof and having a vent aperture ila formed therethrough. A valve seat partition i8 made from magnetized material is sealingly mounted in the lower portion of sleeve It to define a chamber [9 within said sleeve. Said partition is has a plurality of openings formed therethrough which, in the form shown, include a central stern receiving opening 20 and peripherally spaced intercomrnuni'cation openings 2!. A valve disc 22 made from magnetic material is mounted below said partition and has a sealing gasket 22a attached to the top side thereof. A combination valve guiding and releasing element such as the upstanding stem 23 is mounted in fixed relation on the top of said valve 22 and extends upwardly through the stem receiving opening to be disposed a substantial distance thereabove when said valve is in seated position, as shown in Fig. 3, as by being attracted against the underside of the magnetized valve seat partition 18. In the form shown, the central upper ortion of partition is is recessed surrounding the tem receiving opening 20 and is adapted to re- ,ceive a valve opening ball 24 made from magnetic material and normally attracted by said partition I8 to engage the stem 23 of the valve and hold the same in open position, as shown in Fig. 2.

Suitable retaining means are provided for limiting the movement of valve 22 away from partition l8, such as the apertured retaining cap -25 which is, in the form shown, fixed to the lower portion of sleeve "5. Suitable means for holding the valve 22 in spaced relation above the retaining flange portion of cap 25 are provided, such as the spacing knobs 26, best shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

It should be noted that the force exerted by the magnetized valve seat partition IS on the ferrous metallic ball 24 is suflicient to normally retain said ball in seated position even when the cup in which the magnetic valve is mounted is tilted into substantially upside down position, thus requiring at least a slight impact when the cup is in tilted position to unseat the ball from the recess surrounding the opening 211 in said partition 18. Both the ferro-magnetic ball 2 and the ferro-magnetic valve body 22 are attracted by and urged toward the magnetized valve seat partition [8 and, as soon as the ball is moved away from said partition to release the stem 23, the valve body 22 will be snapped upwardly into seated position against the bottom of the partition l8 and positively seal the vent opening Ila to prevent liquid from spilling through the discharge opening 12. The sealing gasket 22a overlying the valve body 22 sealingly seats itself against the bottom side of said partition and positively closes the passages H to form an annular seal around the central stem guiding and receiving opening 20.

Thus it will be seen that the liquid in the drinking cup illustrated is prevented from spilling whenever said cup is inadvertently tipped over and subjected to a slight impact as when being tipped over on a table or being thrown onto the floor. The flap valve l4 further provides a pressure-responsive seal for the opening [2 whenever the magnetic valve is closed. It should also be noted that the magnetic valve will automatically return to open position as soon as the cup is picked up and is returned to normal upright po sition and will not again be unseated until subjected to impact when in tilted position, the weight of the ball plus the force of attraction thereof against the partition I8 being more than sufficient of course to overcome the magnetic attractive force on the valve body 22.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of this invention which, generally stated, consists in the matter shown and described herein and set forth in the appended claims. 7

What I claim is: i v

l. A magnetic type check valve positively maintained in open position until subjected to impact when said valve is tilted beyond substantially upright position, said valve comprising an elongated sleeve, a magnetized valve seat partition sealingly mounted in said sleeve to define a weight retaining chamber on one side of said partition, a valve releasing weight made from ferro-magnetic material and freely mounted within said chamber, a valve element at least a portion of which is ferro-magnetic disposed on the other side of said partition and having a valve stem projecting through said partition and adopted to be engaged by said Weight to maintain said valve in spaced relation from said other side of the partition, said partition having passage means formed therethrough to permit flow of fluid when said valve is in open position, and said weight being shiftable out of stem engaging position only when subjected to impact when in tilted position to permit the magnetic attraction of said partition to shift said valve element into sealed position.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 and said valve releasing weight constituting a spherical ball member, and said valve releasing stem extending through the central portion of said partition.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2 and the upper portion of said partition having a central recess formed therein surrounding the aperture through which said stem extends and providing a seat for said ball to hold said valve in open position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 191,642 Bennett June 5, 1877 2,258,019 Kramer et al. Oct. 7, 1941 2,597,952 Rosenlund May 27, 1952 2,623,368 Olsen i Dec. 30, 1952 

